Jumbangla Desk: Republican candidate Donald Trump has been elected as the 47th President of the United States. This news has strengthened the stock market, the dollar has become stronger. This will have a major impact on the global economy as the dollar appreciates. And the US market is important for the economy of Bangladesh. Details from the report by Kal Kantar-
The country is the single largest export destination for garments. As Donald Trump has been elected as the President of the United States, the businessmen of Bangladesh are seeing opportunities in bilateral trade. At the same time, analysts believe that the policy of ending the global war will increase the speed of trade. Meanwhile, economists, trade analysts and traders have given mixed reactions.
They say that their foreign policy or trade policy does not change quickly with the change of US president. Again, the election of businessman Donald Trump will increase the benefits of many things for businessmen, which will positively affect the trade and commerce of Bangladesh with the United States. However, if Trump emphasizes on internal trade and takes steps to reduce foreign trade, the related people think that various assistance including the climate of Bangladesh may decrease.
Some trade experts believe that Donald Trump can bring major changes in the US economy and trade policy.
The plan may include measures such as tax breaks, tariff hikes and inflationary measures. Due to these reasons, the value of the dollar has already increased by about 1.5 percent against various currencies globally. Especially the pound, euro and yen. In addition, the price of Bitcoin also jumped by six thousand dollars and reached 75,371.69 dollars. The previous record high was 73,797.98 (৳) dollars, which was surpassed.
Japan's Nikkei 225 stock index rose 2.6 percent and Australia's ASX 200 index rose 0.8 percent.
Market analysts believe that Trump's possible economic plan could destabilize the market. Trump has announced that he will make the US the 'world's cryptocurrency hub' and wants to hire Elon Musk to reduce government waste. Apart from that, the US Federal Reserve may announce a new decision on interest rates.
When asked, American Chamber of Commerce in Bangladesh (AmCham) President Syed Ershad Ahmed said, 'America's policy does not change with the change of government. There is no possibility of direct impact on the trade of Bangladesh. But Donald Trump is a bit more inward-looking. Trump will give more importance to local trade. As a result, foreign exchange concessions will be on a contractionary policy. This may reduce the amount of foreign aid from the country. It will help stop global wars, which will have a positive impact on trade. Again, limited cooperation in tackling climate change can have adverse effects.
Syed Ershad said that the trade competitiveness of the country should be increased. Ease of doing business should be given importance. Emphasis should be placed on bilateral economic diplomacy with the United States. In particular, the influence of Bangladesh should be increased in addition to continuing logical discussions with USTR and UTDF.
Syed Mohammad Kamal, former vice president of Amchem and country manager of MasterCard Bangladesh, said, 'Since the foreign policy of the United States does not change much, the bilateral trade of the United States with Bangladesh will continue as it was. Since they now have a commercial office in Bangladesh, we hope that the trade between the two countries will increase in the coming days and the trade relationship will be strengthened.
Trump's early announcement on trade policy: In Trump's new term, not only China, but all countries of the world may be affected by his harsh trade policy. This time, according to Donald Trump's announcement, the weapon he can use the most is tariffs. He has said more than once that the United States will give more importance to internal trade. The country plans to impose a 10 percent or 20 percent tariff on the products it imports. And in the case of goods imported from China, there will be a 60 percent duty. There is an announcement to make it 100 percent for some products from that country.
Bangladesh got trade benefits in the policies taken in Trump's first term. Traders are hoping to get it this time. Every year roughly 10 billion or one thousand billion dollars worth of goods are exported from Bangladesh to the United States. Most of these exports are made-up garments. Currently, Bangladesh is the third largest apparel exporter with 9 percent of the US market share. China and Vietnam export more garments than Bangladesh to the US market.
Mostafizur Rahman, an honorary fellow of the Center for Policy Dialogue, a non-governmental research organization, does not see major changes as Donald Trump has been elected. "The change will depend on what his trade policy will be," he said. If he can implement his tariff plan to continue the trade war with China, it could be positive for Bangladesh. However, Trump made comments about Bangladesh during the election. There is some uncertainty in this regard. If President Trump does not impose any punitive tariffs, trade benefits with Bangladesh will be positive.'
Mostafizur Rahman does not think that Trump will have a liberal policy on foreign aid. He said, in this case, bilateral assistance may decrease a little. US aid is playing a major role in combating climate change in particular. In addition, Republicans always take a strong position on labor and human rights when it comes to tikfa. In this case, if the United States takes a strict position, it will change the industry of Bangladesh. Apart from these issues, there is the issue of private sector trade and investment with the United States. It will depend on the businessmen of the country.
Anwarul Alam Chowdhury Parvez, president of Bangladesh Chamber of Industries (BCI) and exporter of ready-made garments said, 'Donald Trump is a businessman. Taking action as per his announcement will be good for a country like Bangladesh. In particular, the Pacific Treaty was canceled during his previous tenure. Bangladesh has benefited from this. If the agreement was there, pressure would have been created for Bangladesh. Apart from that the world war created instability in world trade. If Trump's policies end this war, the supply system will be better. Opportunities for business will increase. If the war ends and global trade stabilizes, the adverse impact of import-dependent products on the country's market will decrease.
BCI president said that China is one of the largest exporting countries in the world. In the case of the country, if steps are taken as announced by Trump, the trade benefits of Bangladesh will increase.
